"Hi Mama," said Amelia, as her Aunt Laurel led her into the hospital room.
"Hi Ames," replied Felicity, beckoning her daughter over to Oliver, whose line of sight was eyes were transfixed on the little girl in the room.
Laurel rushed over to Oliver's bedside, only to slap his face. "Never do that again, Queen," she all but growled.
"It's nice to see you too, Laurel," he said, his cheek stinging at the touch of her palm. "It's good to learn that you're still the same."
A look of understanding passed between the two as Oliver opened his arms wide, only for Laurel to give him a tight squeeze. "We missed you, fucker," she whispered in his ear, too low for anyone else to hear.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you too, bitch," he replied.
Amelia stood still – staring at her father. "Come here, sweetheart," called out her mother, a tentative edge apparent in her tone.
The young blonde shifted her feet, tightly clutching her stuffed rabbit. "Bunny says hi!" she said, shyly, looking towards Oliver with eager, bright eyes. He looked just like he did in all his pictures, she thought, and turns out, her Mama was right: he was very handsome indeed (and he looked very serious too) – just like her Uncle Tommy.
"Hello Amelia," said Oliver, the tension in his jaw very visible as he watched his daughter walk over to him but then he realized the way her name had rolled off his tongue and it felt easy; almost as if it was natural for him to call her. It didn't feel as if he was speaking to her for the first time.
It felt normal.
Felicity's fingers crossed together as Amelia attempted to climb up the bed. She made no move to help her, knowing that the determined look on the child's face was warning enough for her to not intervene. Laurel covertly slipped out, wanting to give Amelia her first moment as a family, only to bump into Tommy, who was lurking outside the door.
"He's shocked," she commented, gratefully accepting a sip from his Styrofoam cup of coffee.
"I'd be shocked, too," he said, shaking his head. "I'm really happy though."
"I know what you mean," said Laurel. "They deserve this. After all this time, they deserve to be a family."
"Yeah," he agreed, looking away almost wistfully, or Laurel thought. "This is some sight to see. Ollie Queen as a dad? Man, now that he's back, Amelia's never going to have a boyfriend."
Laurel threw her head back as a genuine bout of laughter escaped her lips. Instead of pondering over the supposedly 'wistful' look in Tommy's eyes, she burst out laughing as an image of Oliver and Tommy glaring at some teenage boy popped into her head. "It's not like you were going to let her date, anyway," she said almost fondly.
"It's a relief to know I have some support now. I just can't even think of her dating, Laurel. She's like a daughter to me and fuck it all, why are we even discussing this? She's just a kid and she's got a long way to go before Oliver and I chase off prospective suitors."
"Prospective suitors?" Laurel snickered at that.
"What?" exclaimed Tommy. "I can see it already. Arrogant little fuckers, with their panty-dropping grins, trying to take the world by storm, with their only mission or goal in life: screwing around with girls and their hearts."
"Isn't that just a description of you and Oliver?"
"We're reformed fuckers," he defended himself and his friend.
"If you say so..." said Laurel innocently.
*/
There were no words said as Amelia climbed onto her father's lap and looked up to get a better view at his face. Oliver automatically made space for her in his arms and began to notice the similarities between them. Apart from the curls of short blonde hair that reached till her chin, Amelia looked just like him. Felicity was right.
Their resemblance was uncanny. No one could deny that this was his daughter. He knew it and his heart swelled at the thought of such a pure, beautiful person, being half his. Mournfully, he wondered how much he'd missed over the past few years. From first steps to first words, he'd missed to all and that was an irreplaceable part of Amelia's life that he would know nothing about, a part from second-hand knowledge from friends and family.
He hesitantly held onto her hand, bringing her small fingers into his considerably larger ones. He placed a small kiss on the top of her pinky. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asked.
Amelia's smile widened.
He took that as a 'yes'.
"I didn't know you before today, Amelia," he couldn't get enough of saying her name. "But it feels as if I've known you forever. Do you know why?"
"Yep!" she replied eagerly. "Grana said that when you is family, you always remain in here." She gestured to her heart with one hand and pointed to Oliver's chest with the other.
That sounded like something his mother would say, thought Oliver, content in holding Amelia. It felt right. "I want to know you… I want to…" he struggled for a moment, not know what exactly to say, unable to articulate his thoughts properly- such was the intensity of that moment. This was the first time he was meeting his child.
/
Moira Queen Steele paced back and forth, unable to sit still, knowing that her son- her beloved son- was alive. He'd been found.
"Moira, stop wearing a hole into the ground," chided her husband, Walter, looking in between his wife and step-daughter. "We're almost there."
"I need to get back home," was her anxious reply. She'd already arranged for her son to have a security detail and for him to have the best medical care in the city but she still wasn't at rest. She couldn't be at rest until she saw him. "Walter. I need to see my son."
Walter rose and hurried over to her. "We're almost there," he said soothingly, sparing a glance at his watch, only to see that there were four hours left till their private plane descended in Starling. "It's better this way. It'll give him time with Felicity and perhaps even Amelia. I'm sure Tommy and Laurel are there as well."
Moira's voice trembled. "My son is alive." She couldn't bring herself to say his name out loud in fear that if she did say it, he'd cease to exist- which itself was a strange fear. "My baby boy."
Thea suppressed a grimace, choosing to remain silent instead of saying anything at all because it was painful. Her head was spinning at a pace far too quick for her to get a control of. God. She desperately wanted to be back home.
She was only thirteen when she'd become her mother's only child and now, almost eighteen years old, she was getting her dead big brother back. Except he really wasn't dead.
She wished Roy was with her. Her boyfriend, with his easy smile and strong arms, made things so much better. Her fingers drummed against her knee, her magazine lay forgotten as she pulled out her phone and connected with the on air wi-fi.
It was time to do a search on 'Oliver Queen'- to see what the media was reporting.
She sighed, as she clicked on an article, rolling her eyes as she read a paragraph that said, 'Mr. Queen's mother and CEO of Queen Consolidated, Moira Queen, along with her second husband, CFO, Walter Steele, and daughter, Thea Queen, have yet to make a statement about Oliver's resurrection. It has been reported that the Queen-Steele family still has not returned from their trip to an undisclosed location…"
/
"Oliver Queen: back from the dead," read out Tommy, tossing the newspaper away in disgust. "Ollie's alive and instead of letting us celebrate, they're printing bull-shit."
"What did they say now?" asked Laurel.
"The usual," muttered Tommy darkly. "All about how they're sure Amelia isn't even his daughter and that apparently Felicity just fooled the Queens to get a chunk of their money."
"You read that?" said Felicity, her sudden appearance surprising both Tommy and Laurel both.
"Fel-" began Laurel.
"I'm fine. It's okay…The truth had to come out one day or the other."
Tommy froze. Laurel dropped her fork. "What?" they spluttered simultaneously.
"Yeah," nodded Felicity. "It's not like my daughter looks exactly like Oliver or anything. I probably made her get plastic surgery... Turn to page 16 of that gossip rag and you'll get all the details, Thomas."
"I should sue their asses," said Laurel, trying not to remember the time when Tommy had been accused of being Amelia's biological father, among other things. "As long as we know the truth, nothing else matters."
"You're right," agreed Felicity, reaching for Amelia's princess cup. Filling it with orange juice, she grabbed a blueberry muffin as well and put it in a brown paper bag. "I'm heading out. Oliver's coming home today." By home, she meant the Queens' Manor.
"Wait," called out Laurel, following Felicity as she walked out the kitchen door. "Are you ready for him to be back into your life?"
Tommy tried not to eavesdrop but he couldn't help himself.
"We'll figure it out," Felicity sounded confident. "Maybe we won't be OliverandFelicity right now but we can be Oliver and Felicity- Amelia's parents. I think we'll be okay."
"He's been through a lot," said Laurel quietly, wondering exactly how much he'd been through. Questions burned through her head as she also wondered whether her sister had made it to the island, whether she'd died on impact or whether she'd been there, fighting to live, alongside Oliver and Robert. When exactly had she died?
She didn't know if she wanted answers or not. Maybe she was better off not knowing. However, her dad did want to know, if his stream of messages, were any indication. He wanted to know about Sara.
She caught Tommy staring at the Queens' family portrait from six or seven years ago: Moira was seated on an armchair, with Thea grinning from her lap, Oliver standing by Robert's side, both father and son donning identical expressions as they posed for the picture.
"It's a lot to deal with," added Tommy, from behind them. He couldn't help but notice how Laurel looked so lost and it was doing strange things to him. He was concerned about her. It was killing him to see her face so pale and brown eyes so haunted.
He wished she'd open up to someone.
He wished she'd open up to him.
"We'll deal with it all," said Laurel.
"Yeah," nodded Felicity. "It's only been a day and I'm just so happy that he's alive- not that I'm happy that this means Mr. Queen and Sara are-" Her eyes widened in horror as she saw Laurel's face. "Laurel. I-"
"Leave it at that," advised Tommy, ignoring the strong urge to reach for Laurel's hand. "Let's just celebrate Oliver."
/
"I can't do this, Tommy," cried Felicity.
Tommy took a deep breath. "It'll be okay!" he said, trying to convince himself just as much as Felicity. "Think of it this way: once this fuckload of pain is over, you'll have Amelia in your arms and man-"
"It's TOO fucking much!" she let out of a string of curses as another round of contractions coursed through her body. Whoever said an epidural was helpful was a big fat liar, she concluded as nothing was helping her at this point. She just wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. "I can't do this."
"YES, YOU CAN!" yelled Tommy, all the while praying that Felicity's mother would be there soon so he could make a prompt exit. He'd never planned to be there for the actual birth, for fuck's sake. "Look," he said, "I'm terrified, too, okay? I didn't know that giving birth would be like this… but there's no other way, F. If there was, you wouldn't be here right now. This baby needs to be born now."
A tear cascaded down Felicity's cheek.
Tommy moved closer and held out a hand to her. "Here," he said, suppressing the urge to bolt out through the door. "I'm here."
"Tommy."
"I'm gonna stay with you every step of the way, F. As much as I like your doctors here," he jerked a thumb towards the gynecologist and nurses in scrubs," I'm not leaving you here, at least not till Donna gets here."
Felicity looked at Tommy. Then she shut her eyes, Oliver's face appearing before her as he begged her not to give up.
He'd want her to accept his best friend's support as she delivered their baby into the world.
He wouldn't want her to be alone.
'I don't want to be alone either,' she thought, trying to even her breaths. She extended her hand to Tommy, who smiled at her encouragingly, even though his clammy palm indicated a different set of emotions entirely.
Even if she didn't have Oliver, she still had Tommy and that was exactly what she needed right then and there in that moment.
/
Guys, I'm reposting the previous chapters, after having edited them. I'm also merging chapters together so that they're longer. Once I'm done fixing the ones I already I have, I'll continue with the rest of the story.